"Harriet Tubman Is a Superhero": Young African American Children Imagining Resistance Through Literate Expression

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Critical Literacies and Expressions That Promote Equity and Justice in Early Childhood Education (Table 3)

Abstract

Children of color in the U.S. are born into a racialized climate wherein they cannot be colorblind. Early racial awareness studies (i.e., Clark & Clark, 1939), have for decades centered on young children’s self-esteem, biases, or friendships. Yet, there remains a dearth of empirical research about young African American children’s sociopolitical knowledge. This paper examines how several African American first graders in an urban community school illustrated their knowledge of racialized sociopolitical conditions and concepts of resistance through imagination. The findings and implications challenge literacy educators to consider how literacy and children’s social worlds are inextricably linked as well as enhance researchers’ and practitioners’ understanding of children’s imaginative worlds as a vehicle for conceptualizing racial and sociopolitical change.

Author

• Wintre Foxworth Johnson, University of Virginia